How to export your files from Google Drive

How to export your files from Google Drive? Google Drive is great for storing files, but what if you need to access them offline? Learn how to export your files from Google Drive.

Google Drive is a useful cloud storage service that allows you to keep all your Google documents stored in the cloud, even allowing you to collaborate on them with others.

The downside to all types of cloud storage is that if you are offline, you may not be able to access your files.

You may also decide that you don't want Google to have access to all of your files and want to leave the service.

The good news is that you can export all your data from Google Drive if you want. This will not delete your files on Google Drive.

It simply exports a copy of them that you can store wherever you want.

If you want to get your Google Drive documents out of the cloud, learn how to export your Google Drive files below.

Why export your files from Google Drive?

Google Drive is a great way to store your files in the cloud. You can access your files from anywhere you have internet access.

However, there are a few reasons why you might want to export your files from Google Drive.

Firstly, you may want to use your files even when you don't have an Internet connection.

You can use your Google Drive files offline, but you need to make your file available offline before you can do so.

If you don't have an Internet connection and haven't made a file available offline yet, you won't be able to open it.

Exporting your files from Google Drive means you can access them from your hard drive even if you don't have an Internet connection.

Secondly, if you have important files, saving them in just one location can be a risk.

If something goes wrong and files are deleted from Google Drive, you may not be able to recover them. Having a copy of your files saved offline ensures that even if you lose your files in the cloud, your documents are not lost.

How to export your files from Google Drive

Exporting your files from Google Drive is quite simple to do, thanks to Google Takeout. This is a project created by the Google Data Liberation Front, an engineering team at Google, with the goal of making it easier for people using Google products to move their data in and out of Google if they choose.

Google Takeout was the first product of the Google Data Liberation Front. You can use it to download data from a wide range of Google products.

To export your files from Google Drive using Google Takeout:

1. Navigate to the Google Takeout website and sign in to your Google account.
2. By default, the selection includes almost all Google products, including many products that you cannot use.
3. If you just want to export your files from Google Drive, click Deselect all first.
4. Scroll down to To drive and check the box.
5. Three additional options will appear.
6. Click Various formats to choose the formats that the export will use for various types of documents.
7. To change a format, click the button Documents suspended.
8. Select one of the menu options.
9. Click OK to save your changes.
10. Then click Advanced Settings to access additional options.
11. To check Include named, published, and uploaded versions if you have saved some named revisions of your documents that you also want to download.
12. To check Include additional information for files and folders to download extra files that contain additional information about your files and folders. This is not recommended unless you really need to, as it adds a ton of unnecessary files to your download.
13. Click All unit data included if you only want to include specific folders in your download.
14. Mark off Include all files and folders in Drive and select the folders you want to include.
15. Once you are satisfied with our selections, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next step.
16. The default setting is to receive the download by email. If you prefer it to be uploaded to a cloud storage service, click the Transfer to suspended.
17. Select the cloud storage service you want to use. The export will be uploaded to this service and you will be emailed a link to its location.
18. You can also choose to export your files once or have them automatically exported every two months for a year.
19. Select the type of file you want the export to create. The default is .zipbut you can click on the dropdown and change it to .tgz if you wish.
20. Finally, decide the maximum file size for your export. If your data is larger than the selected file size, it will be split into multiple files.
21. Click the drop-down menu to choose a size 1GB until 50GB.
22. When you're ready, click Create export.
23. Google will create a copy of your files. This can take a significant amount of time; you will receive an email when the process is complete. You can choose to cancel the export if you wish.
24. If you selected the default email option, you will receive an email to your Gmail account with a link to download your files.
25. If you selected a cloud storage service, your files will be uploaded to your chosen service. You will receive an email with a link to the files on that cloud service.

Exporting your files from Google Drive

Learning how to export your files from Google Drive allows you to keep offline copies of your files.

It can also be very useful if you decide you no longer want to use Google Drive. If you want to keep using Google Apps, there are some useful tricks worth knowing.

When your Google Drive is getting full, you can learn how to empty the trash in Google Drive. If you use Google Slides for your presentations, it's worth knowing how to save an image from a Google Slides presentation.

And if you're using your spreadsheet, you can learn how to merge sheets in Google Sheets.